Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 32.djvu/433

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LITERARY NOTICES.
419

reasoning men admit that the action of the law is a step in the right direction." It is to the advantage of the oleomargarine-man, for his good oleomargarine gets the credit for being what it is; while the buyer of bad butter is informed by the absence of the brand that it is not oleomargarine that he is nauseating himself with. The third motive is altogether bad; and not its least mischievous tendency is to the building up of monopolies. On account of it, the present law should be repealed, to pave the way for a consistent, comprehensive, and wholesome enactment; for its unconditional repeal without any delay "might open the way for a national act concerning the adulteration of food that would commend itself to every citizen, and meet a crying want of the times." Waiting this, the authors propose certain suggestions for the alteration and amendment of the existing legislation.

Revue Internationale, scientifique et populaire, des falsifications des denreés Alimentaires. (International Review, Scientific and Popular, of Falsifications of Foods.) Dr. P. F. Van Hamel Roos, Editor. Vol. I, No. 1. September 15, 1887. Amsterdam: Albert de Lange. Bimonthly. Pp. 32. Price, 8 francs a year.

This journal is established in pursuance of a suggestion which was emitted by the editor at the International Pharmaceutical and Chemical Congress of 1885, that a periodical should be published to warn people of all nations against detected adulterations, and to serve as an organ of communication among hygienists and chemists, and promote uniformity of research. The idea was well received, and Dr. Van Hamel Roos, who was at the time conducting a Dutch journal of the same character, has since been preparing to begin the work. He has secured a large list of collaborators and correspondents from most of the important countries of the world, distinguished hygienists, chemists, etc., including Dr. Willis G. Tucker, of Albany, from the United States. The present number is published in French, with a few articles in German or English also; but it is contemplated, if the clientage demands it, ultimately to publish the whole in three languages—French, German, and English. The contents of the number include papers on the measures against adulteration in force in Spain; municipal inspection of provisions at Amsterdam; international measures against adulterations (reports of the Vienna Congress on the subject); analyses of the peptones of commerce; substitutions for spices; adulteration of flour with alum; "Definition of Falsification"; and supplementary articles devoted to hygiene and industry.

Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, Nos. 30 to 39. Washington: Government Printing Office.

No. 30. Second Contribution to the Studies on the Cambrian Faunas of North America. By Charles D. Walcott. Pp. 369. Price, 25 cents.—This monograph embraces what the author designates as the "Middle Cambrian Fauna," or that which is referable to the Georgia Horizon, but including also formations in the St. Lawrence Valley, Labrador and Newfoundland; Troy, New York; and districts in the Western surveys.

No. 31. Systematic Review of our Present Knowledge of Fossil Insects, including Myriapods and Arachnids. By Samuel H. Scudder. Pp. 128. Price, 15 cents.—This paper is the original form and the authorized English edition of the article which was furnished by Mr. Scudder—who is the most thorough-going of the American students in this branch of paleontology—to Dr. Zittel, for his "Handbuch der Paläontologie," and is furnished, with the concurrence of the author and publisher of that work, for the convenience of English readers.

No. 32. Mineral Springs of the United States. By Albert C. Peale, M. D. Pp. 235. Price, 20 cents.—This book was noticed in the "Monthly" for March, 1887.

No. 33. Notes on the Geology-of Northern California. By J. S. Diller. Pp. 23. Price, 5 cents.—This report embraces reconnaissances of the Cascade Range, Mount Shasta, and the Coast and Sierra Nevada Ranges in Northern California and Oregon. The surface features are grouped into two valleys—the Willamette and Sacramento—and three mountain-ranges. The limestone among the metamorphic rocks of the Coast and Sierra Nevada Ranges is referred to the Carboniferous age.